


A Paladin's Skill

by Verdic



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: DNDecember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 01:30:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verdic/pseuds/Verdic
Summary: Rumil, a human paladin, has recently teamed up with Larkin, a halfling sorceress, and Seraphia, a half-elf Druid. When a poor village asks for help against fell beasts, Rumil is duty bound to help them. However, Rumil prefers to use his Charisma, a Paladin's most useful stat, against his foes.





	A Paladin's Skill

**Author's Note:**

> Rumil, Larkin, and Seraphina are characters from an earlier campaign. This event did not happen in game and was made up to detail why I love the patient paladin. These characters will return.

“Help us, please!” Ken begged at the passing adventurers. He fell to his knees, partially in despair and partly due to weakness in his old knees. His clothes were worn and patched so much that little of the original material remained. His hair was prematurely thin from malnourishment, but his eyes still blazed with vigor.

“Father, please, no one will help us.” Henrik softly chided. He kneeled over and helped his father stand. “We have nothing for them. There is no loot to be had, and we have nothing to give. No adventurer will help save us.” Ken shrugged his son’s hands off him, determined to keep trying. Tears threatened to fall from Henrik’s eyes as he saw his father debase himself to another group who laughed at him and walked away. 

“Excuse me,” A soft voice said. “If you are looking for help, I would be willing to offer my services.” Henrick and Ken looked around for the voice. Standing before them was a humanoid figure. The person’s face and head was concealed by a subtle yellow veil hood and face wrap. All they could see was their eyes, which were a deep chestnut brown, and the skin around which had an olive hue to it. The rest of the person’s body was covered by slim but solid plate armor, obscuring any body features. On one hip was a longsword, while across the back was a round steel shield. Emblazoned on the chest of the figure was a kite shield with a starburst on the upper corner. “I cannot speak for my companions, but I am sure I can talk them around.” The eyes crinkled into a smile. 

“Rumil, there you are!” A female halfling came running up to him, a frog sitting in her curly hair. She noticed the two peasants in front of her friend and groaned. “What did you drag us into this time?” She gently smacked Rumil’s hip plate.

“These people need assistance. They have yet to tell me of the nature of it.” Rumil turned to Ken. “I believe you were about to tell us.” It was not a question, but rather a statement. Ken rapidly nodded. He seemed too overwhelmed to speak.

“We need assistance. At night, these beasts come and raid our village. They come from the mine and we are powerless to stop them. Nearly half of our village has been injured or killed by them. We have had to pay tribute to the mines to prevent the attacks. Now, we have nothing. We don’t even have anything for a reward. I told my father this was a futile idea.”

“The other’s won’t agree to this.” Larkin said. “You know they won’t.”

“It is my turn to pick our mission.” Rumil offered. “And besides, this mission does not seem to be too difficult. I know Seraphina will be happy to assist, and Olik will be happy for the fight. I’m sure I can make Kalmin see the justice and good in this mission.” Rumil turned to Ken. “Venerable, we will be happy to meet you in two hours. We will then head to your village and vanquish this fiendish enemy that assails your village.”

Two days later, they arrived at the village. Most of it showed signs of damage, and some buildings were only ruins. Rumil could feel the gazes of the rest of his party on him. He simply turned and smiled. “Let’s see what we can find out.” He strode off into the village and started to talk to the villagers. 

“Next time, if he chooses to take a mission with no reward, I’m going to dump him into the river.” Kalmin muttered as he looked at the village. 

“Come on, it’s not that bad. We can help those in need. That’s what we do.” Seraphina said. “Or is this too poor for you to sully yourself with.” She huffed and padded off, her large wolf happily trotting into the town to investigate.

Larkin and Seraphina walked after Rumil. He had removed his veil and face mask to talk with the peasants. Most of the time, he kept the veil up. It wasn’t because he was disfigured, but because he was fairly attractive. He found the attention it normally garnered him to be a little too much, so he covered his face to avoid it. His hair was short and brown, and his face was clean shaven. 

“Thanks. Get the youngs inside, we got this.” They heard him say to the men of the village as Seraphina and Larkin approached. “They have provided me with the location of the cave. We should be able to arrive in an hour.” He smiled at them and reattached his veil. Larkin noticed what looked like a tattoo on his neck, crawling onto his cheek. 

“What are we up against?” Larkin asked. “I ain’t going in there unprepared like last time.” 

“It appears something is summoning fell beasts from the mine and only by paying ransom are they safe.” Rumil rolled his shoulders. “We can be done before sunset and on to the next mission.”

 

“So, this is the mine that has been taking over...lovely.” Kalmin muttered. 

“Come on, fell beasts are fun to crush.” Olik pulled out his Falchion and gave it a few sweeps. Kalmin grumbled and pulled out a maul. As they pressed into the mine, Frey, Seraphina’s wolf brother, let out a whine. 

“What is it?” Seraphine knelt down. “Smell something brother?” She listened to some yips and whines. “Frey says he smells rotting flesh and ichor.”

“Then we shall meet it with righteous fury.” Rumil strode forwards and led them into the mine. 

At the bottom of the main shaft was where the ambush was sprung. Zombies of the slain villagers shuffled forwards while imps scuttled out from various corridors. Olik laughed as he charged into the fray, thunderous booms happening with each hit. Larkin summoned a pool of writhing tentacles to immobilize most of them. Stars shot from Seraphina’s hands as she mowed down the rest. Unfazed by the undead and imps, Rumil strode deeper into the mine, using his shield to bash aside all opposition. His blows crushed bone and sprayed ichor everywhere. 

After a minute of fierce fighting, there was no more movement. The party continued on, never deviating from the main tunnel. Rumil seemed to know exactly where he was going and ignored all of the side passages. Finally, they came upon a cavern that looked like it had been converted into an evil wizard’s lair. There were candles covering most of the surfaces. Books and papers were stacked everywhere, with crates and sacks scattered around. In the middle of the room was a cage with a dead woman in it. 

Standing nearby was a scrawny figure in dirty robes with a rat’s nest of hair. It was looking in a book and making notes. At the noise being made by the adventurers, it turned around. It was a young woman, eyes red and rimmed with black bags stared at them. 

“You killed them all!” She spat. “All my experiments. You ruined them. How can I continue my work?” Her voice grew even more shrill. Olik went to run forward, but Rumil held his hand out. Slotting his shield onto his back, he walked forwards. 

“Who is that? Your sister?” He walked over and looked into the cage. “She can’t be more than ten, can she?” His voice was soft and smooth. He pulled down his face mask and veil.

“Get away from her!” The young mage ran over and threw herself between the cage and Rumil. “Don’t you dare do anything to her.” She threw a blast of necromantic energy at Rumil. It died as it crossed Rumil’s aura of protection. She summoned her energy again to throw another bolt of energy.

“I won’t do anything to her.” He smiled and turned to the book. “Have you been practicing necromancy to raise her from the dead? There are other ways.”

“They said we aint got the money to raise her.” She looked at her sister. 

“How did she die?” Rumil knelt near the girl. She started crying.

“I killed her. I was casting and she died. She was annoying me and I wanted to silence her. I just wanted her to be quiet. I didn’t want her to die.” She sniffed and walked over to the book. “If I can get this spell right then I can raise her from the dead.” Her voice grew hard. “But I need bodies to practice on and I need to get more powerful. You are here to stop that and I can’t let that happen.”

Rumil gently held her in his hands. She was no match for his strength, but he did not want to hurt her. “I’m sorry, I truly am. Larkin, please tell me what that spell does.” He held the girl while Larkin looked at the spell. 

“Rumil, this isn’t resurrection. This is a spell to make a free willed undead. She’s trying to make a wight.” Larkin’s voice shuddered. 

“Child, I cannot let you continue to harass the village to create this creature. As it is, we have two options. The first is that I can kill you right here.” His eyes flashed dangerously as he looked her in the eyes. “The other is that I can take you into the authorities. You will be tried and punished for your crimes, but you will live and be able to continue to grow.”

The silence was palpable as the girl cried and sniffled. Finally, she nodded and collapsed. Carefully, Rumil handed her off to Olik. Turning to the rest of the chamber, he sighed and readjusted his veil. “Ready to cleanse this place?” He asked Seraphina.


End file.
